Pirate
David Hernandez }}"The pirate motto is 'Get in, get out. Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast, take what you want and leave.'"'' -Michael Triplett, Pirate Weapons Master'' The Pirate, murderous killer of the high seas; Vs. the Knight, sword-wielding slayer of the Medieval age. Stats *Year: 1715 *Height: c. 5' 10" *Weight: c. 170 lbs *Armor: None *Gear: 20 lbs *Loyalty: Money **England/Spain/France *Symbol - Jolly Roger (Flag of the Pirates, a skull with two crossed cutlasses underneath) History Origins of Caribbean Piracy The pirate has existed in every culture near water. Privateers were independent sailors that were given special permission by governments to raid enemy ships (normally though not exclusively during wartime), permitted with a Letters of Marque and Reprisal. Buccaneers are pirates who operated more on land than on sea. Many Buccaneers were originally boar hunters who resorted to piracy after overhunting from the increasing numbers of European settlers ruined their lifestyles. After Christopher Columbus began the Spanish conquests of the Americas in 1492, other European powers quickly attempted to conquer as much land as possible. This led to multiple Empires creating colonies across the Caribbean islands; settled due to their small native populations, tropical weather perfect for farming and easy access to ocean trade routes. The Caribbean pirates rose in the 1630s. Brethren of the Coast was a large alliance of pirates living on the Island of Tortuga. This crime den was weakened by crackdowns in the late 1600s, although The Brethren managed to survive until the early 1800s. Golden Age of Piracy The most noticeable Golden Age of Piracy was during the 1710s after the War of the Spanish Succession (with the Carribbean and North American theater being called the Queen Anne's War). When the war ended, now jobless soldiers and sailors resorted to piracy off the coast of European colonies. The majority of Pirate crews lived in the Bahamas as it was not heavily patrolled or controlled by European powers compared to the rest of the Caribbean. The city of Nassau on the Bahaman island of New Province became one of the largest pirate strongholds in the New World, with the retired pirate captain Henry Jennings as the defacto political leader of this Pirate Republic. This was one of the few Republics to exist in the world during this era; the majority of nations at this time were monarchies. At least 2000 pirates had homes and bases in the Caribbean in 1717. In 1718 Woodes Rogers (under orders of King George I) announced a Kings' Pardon to allow pirates to return to their old lives without fear of arrest. This significantly decreased the pirate population as many wanted to retire anyways. Because of this pardon, eventually the pirates were stopped by a anti-piracy crackdown from European navies (with some of the aforementioned pardoned pirates being hired as anti-pirate mercenaries). Woodes would replace the Pirate Republic as he became the new British governor of Nassau. Bartholomew Roberts, the most successful Caribbean Pirate, was KIA on 10 February 1722. Caribbean Piracy would continue to decline in the 1720s. Aftermath Piracy lost popularity as larger ships became faster, but piracy still existed. The early 1800s saw a resurgence of piracy in the Caribbean, primarily as an aftermath of The War of 1812. Between 1817-1825 the US navy cracked down on this piracy and after this Caribbean piracy has been virtually eliminated. However due to the War on Drugs in the late 20th century; illegal naval activity has returned in the Caribbean: primarily on the more profitable drug trade or illegal human trafficking. The act of using privateers (basically pirates hired as mercenaries) was banned internationally by the Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law on 16 April 1856. Today, the Somali Pirates and Indonesian Pirates repopularised piracy, which is beginning to rise around the world. Legacy Historical evidence for most individual pirates is scarce since many pirates kept their past lives secret and many pirate captains had a short reign before dying young in battle or being executed. Treasure Island and Peter Pan (both the novels and Disney film adaptations) helped popularize Pirates in the pop-culture of the UK and USA. Many famous novels, especially Treasure Island, created inaccurate myths of piracy. Certain practices like burying treasure, owning parrots and 'walking the plank' has little to no historical accuracy. It was very common for pirate captains to lose their authority, as a crew acted democratically and would not obey a weak or unpopular captain. There has been evidence of pirates burying people at low tide as a method of execute, as the high tide will drown the person. Pirates did have black flags, but Samuel Bellamy rose the iconic skull-and-crossbones. Blackbeard has been recorded lighting his beard on fire, sometimes tying cannon fuses to his beard, to create a smokescreen. Blackbeard even marooned half of his crew to steal their money. Weapons: Pirates had different kinds of ammunition for their cannons (Cannon ball, Grape shot, Scatter shot, Canister shot, Bundal shot, Chain or Knipple shot, Bar shot, Bombs). Simulated Battle The battle begins with a Pirate discovering a dusty treasure chest in the middle of the forest. In the distance, the Knight comes riding in on his horse. The Pirate opens the chest and begins counting the gold dubloons inside, but hears the horse coming towards him. He looks up and sees the Knight with his Morning Star in hand. Thinking that he is trying to steal his treasure, the Pirate pulls out one of his Flintlock pistols. The Knight begins swinging his Morning Star and signals his horse to charge at the Pirate. The Pirate aims his pistol and fires, but misses the Knight. He pulls out another pistol and fires a second time, but the bullet bounces off of the Knight's armor. The Knight's horse dashes at the Pirate, and the Knight swings at him with the Morning Star. The Pirate dodges, gets up, and desperately scrambles for the Grenado in his pocket. The horse turns around and begins to charge at the Pirate again. However, the Pirate manages to light the fuse on the Grenado and throws it at the Knight. The explosion knocks the Knight off his horse. The Pirate slowly approaches the Knight, thinking that he is dead. The Knight sits up and shoots his Crossbow at the Pirate, shooting his leg. While the Pirate tries to pull the bolt out, the Knight gets up and hits him with the Morning Star again and throws him to the floor. However, the Pirate pulls out his Blunderbuss as he hits the floor and shoots the Knight in the chestplate, sending him flying back. The Pirate then grabs his treasure chest and tries to run away, once again unaware that he still hasn't killed the Knight. The Pirate reaches the shore and sees his ship in the distance. He turns around and is annoyed to see that the Knight is still following him. "Oh, bloody hell," he groans. He runs ahead to put down his treasure, then turns around and fires his third Flintlock pistol. The bullet hits the Knight, but he shakes it off and runs towards the knight with his Broadsword in hand. The Pirate pulls out his Cutlass sword and engages in a sword fight with the Knight. The two get their swords stuck in the sand, and the Knight uses this opportunity to kick the Pirate to the ground. He pulls out his Broadsword and tries to strike the Pirate, but the Pirate manages to roll out of the way. He backs himself up towards the bottom of a cliff, while the Knight slowly trudges towards him.The Knight swings his sword, but the Pirate parries with his sword and then kicks the Knight to the floor. The Knight gets back up and clumsily swings at the Pirate, who effortlessly dodges the sword. The Pirate then throws sand at the Knight's helmet, distracting him long enough to charge at him and throw him to the floor. As the Knight tries to regain consciousness, the Pirate runs to his fourth Flintlock pistol, which fell out of his pocket earlier on, and grabs it. He returns to the knight, who is still on the floor, and opens the medieval helmet's visor. He shoves the pistol at the Knight's face and fires at point-blank range, killing him instantly. The Pirate gets up and roars in victory. Expert's Opinion After the battle the experts gave their opinions on why the pirate won. While they admitted that the Knight had superior training and armor unlike the Pirate, so what handed the latter's victory was the lethal and instant killing power of the Blunderbuss and grenado. While it had a tendency to jam, the Blunderbuss' shot could penetrate the Knight's armor and kill him easily, the exact reason why soldiers stopped wearing armor after the discovery of guns. The Knight was a victim of his time rather than his skill, and due to the Pirate's gunpowder weapons, literally, "brought a knife to a gun fight," in this case. Back for Blood The Pirate was considered for the Back for Blood Modern matchup, but was dismissed due to the primitive nature of his gunpowder weapons compared to his opponents. In Deadliest Warrior: The Game *'Class': Berserker *'Short range': Cutlass/Dagger *'Mid Range':Boarding Pike *'Long Range': Flintlock Pistol/Blunderbuss *'Special Weapon': Grenado Finisher: The Pirate stumbles towards his fallen opponent, drinking heavily from a bottle. After emptying it, he throws the bottle aside and approaches his helpless victim, pulling out his gun and shooting them in the face point-blank. He tosses the gun aside and falls over drunkenly, passing out in a pool of his opponent's blood, talking trash. Tips: *The Pirate has no armor, but has good midrange weapons as well as the only firearms in the game. Use this to your advantage by keeping at a distance from your opponent. *The Pirate has decent speed, so you can dodge easily. Instead of blocking, try to dodge or parry. *The Grenado is very effective. It does good damage and always knocks your opponent down. However there are two drawbacks; the first being that it takes a long time to activate and if you throw it at the wrong spot it's useless, and the second being that it will most certainly hurt you as well. *The Flintlock pistols give you an extra shot and quicker draw, but the Blunderbuss does much more damage on a direct hit but less accuracy. Choose whichever one suits your style best. *While the pirate's melee skills are average, his projectiles can weaken his foe enough to level the playing field. *If you managed to knock your opponent down, wait for your opponent to stand up (at least part way) and use the Blunderbuss to maximize the damage. This trick is used by Jovenshire of Smosh Games. Trivia *The Norse word Viking literally means Pirate; as Vikings did commit acts of piracy frequently. *In Deadliest Warrior: The Game, if the pirate wins a round with his arm cut off, he may say "Thank God we don't have any ninjas to see this shit". This is a reference to the Pirate VS. Ninja meme, which is possibly the most requested Deadliest Warrior fight even though The Aftermath confirmed that the producers will not make this duel to keep the debate alive. *The early 1700s Great Age of Piracy began as a result of privateers who lost their careers in the navy after The Queen Anne's War brought peace to the American Colonies. Blackbeard, one of the most famous pirates, named his flagship 'Queen Anne's Revenge'. *Contrary to popular belief, Blackbeard was not the most successful pirate. In the Great Age of Piracy this honor belongs to Bartholomew 'Black Bart' Roberts, who raided 470 ships. **One of the greatest pirates in all history was Ching Shih, a female Qing Dynasty pirate with a fleet of 300 ships and about 40,000 crewmates. She retired in luxury and was the owner of a large gambling house later in her life. *The actor Robert Newton is credited for creating the pirate accent and popularizing the phrase 'Arrrrg'. This is due to his depictions of Long John Silver and Black Beard in the 1950s. This accent is actually the West Country accent, unique to a region in England. In real life, most pirates had more common English accents, if they even spoke English. Many pirates spoke other European languages due to the multiple European colonies existing in the Caribbean during the early 1700s. *Due to the superstitious natures of the time, sailors in the 1700s considered women to be unlucky, or merely created rumors to discourage prostitutes from distracting the crew. This is why female pirates were so rare (with the exceptions of Anne Bonny and Mary Reed). *Scurvy was the primary killer of pirates, not warfare or execution. *During the golden age of piracy, the average pirate crew had higher wages and work ethics compared to the European navies they fought against. *George Washington used piracy during the American Revolution. The American navy had 2000 ships throughout the war, the majority being privateers. Though during the Napoleonic Wars, President Washington told French diplomat Edmond-Charles Genêt that he would not allow France to hire American citizens as privateers. *A primary reason why piracy was so rampant during the 1600s and early 1700s was because the Caribbean islands had the most developed ports in the Americas at the time. Canada and modern day USA was difficult to colonize due to the lack of transit and a massive untouched wilderness, while the Caribbean made transit easy due to boat travel and the small sizes of the islands. *The reason why Rum is associated with Pirates of the 1600s and 1700s is because Rum was a relatively new drink created by sugar: and since sugar plantations were common across the Caribbean Islands it was the standard drink for English sailors. Only until the 1970s was rum removed from the daily rations of British sailors. *The first overseas American war was the Barbary Wars; a war against North African pirates. *Samuel Bellamy is credited with using the iconic Skull and Crossbones. Other pirates used a similar design; including John Taylor and Edward England. However the image of a Skull and Crossbones existed since ancient times and gained popularity in Europe thanks to Medieval Danse Macabre images. **Skull and crossbones were not only used by Pirates. Some modern militaries, including the Waffen SS used similar symbols. *Privateer Sir Francis Drake is credited of introducing the potato to England; becoming one of the most vital European staple foods in history. *Piracy was popular in the Caribbean since the profits from Piracy was more luxurious than any other lower-class occupation at that time; including being a sailor in a European navy. *It was very common for Pirates to kidnap other people (normally the sailors who were victim of Pirate raids) to force them to join their Pirate crews. Black Bartholomew Roberts, the most successful Caribbean Pirate, was once the Third Mate and Navigator on the slave ship Princess before being kidnapped by Howell Davis' Pirate Crew. **Captain Kidd was forced to attack an allied English ship, the Quedagh Merchant, when his crew threatened to mutiny (Kidd was a privateer at this time, but was hired by the English and so this plundering changed him from a English privateer to a Pirate outlaw). *Most Pirates had health insurance; victims of injuries would be paid a small sum of money and sometimes offered slaves. *Most pirates who were marooned were allowed one bottle of water as their last drink and a loaded pistol if they decided to commit suicide rather than to starve. *Many Privateers were hired by European Navies to capture other Pirates. *Blackbeard had about 14 marriages (despite his previous wives still being alive and most of the marriages performed by force) *Before Blackbeard died from decapitation; he had 5 gunshots and at least 20 cuts on his body. *The frequency of Pirates being marooned has led to legendary stories of survivalists. The Pirate Alexander Selkirk survived 4 years alone on an island devoid of any other humans. *Pirates raise black flags to threaten other ships; primarily hoping to force that ship to surrender, since it was dangerous to raid ships if the crew attempted to fight back against the pirates. However a red flag meant that the Pirates intended to slaughter their opponents; ignoring any attempts at truce or surrender. *Captain William Kidd was the only pirate confirmed to have a treasure map. This trope was popularized by the novella Treasure Island. **Olivier Levasseur left a currently unsolved cryptogram, which some believe to be a treasure map. *Ex-Pirate William Dampier became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. *Pirate cannoneers did wear earrings, primarily to support their wax earplugs that protected their ears from the loud blasts of the cannons. *The Pirate was the first warrior to use black powder weapons, explosives, firearms on the show. He was also the first modern warrior on the show. *Life of a pirate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIjkWUs7oA8 *Blackpowder vs Plate Armor Testing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQfcRLT18IY *Pirate Weapons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBbq4XaMQxA Category:Warriors Category:Modern Warriors Category:Criminal Warriors Category:Victorious Warriors Category:Season 1 Category:Black Powder Warriors Category:Gun Powder Warriors Category:Unarmored Ancient Warriors